The Unexpected Savior
by Sanura Bey
Summary: Sophia Swan, Emma's twin sister, spent her whole life helping her sister so when she called saying her long lost son was back Sophia rushed to her side. Now the curse is broken and her family is together. But the journey is still far from over and they meet the most interesting of people along the way.
1. Broken Curses and Portal Hopping

The curse was broken. That much was evident by everyone looking shocked and relieved to see each other. My sister, Emma, and I were walking to the one person who could probably explain everything to us with our parents, Snow White and Prince Charming, behind us. Emma and I had dreamt of everything our parents could have been growing up, but this was a stretch we weren't ready for. When we entered Gold's shop he was making tea behind the counter.

"What can I do for you?" he asked us.

"What you can do is tell us what you did." Emma told him.

"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to be more specific." He told us.

"You know damn well what we're talking about." David said.

"You double-crossed Emma and Sophia, you took your—uh—potion, from them!" Mary Margaret said.

"You did who knows what to this town!" David added.

"And worst of all; you risked Henry's life! Why?" I asked him.

"Well, that is quite a litany of grievances now, isn't it?" Mr. Gold asked.

"Maybe I don't need answers, maybe I just need to punch you in the face." Emma said and I placed my hand on her arm.

"Really, dearie?" Mr. Gold laughed coming from behind the counter. "Allow me to answer your questions with some of my own, alright? Did your dear boy, Henry, survive?" he asked.

"Yeah." She answered.

"Is the Curse broken? And let's see, Miss Swan, how long have you been searching for your parents? Looks like you're reunited. Seems like, rather than a punch in the face, I deserve a thank-you." He told us.

"Twist our words all you want, but it won't help you." I told him.

" _What_ was the purple haze that you brought?" Emma asked him.

"Y'know.. Magic." He said with a flourish of his hand.

"Why?" Mary Margaret asked him.

"Not telling." He told us seconds after there was a rumbling making the entire store shake.

"What the hell was that?" Emma asked as David and Mary Margaret looked out the window.

" _That_.. is my gift to you. _That_ is gonna take care of Regina." Mr. Gold told us.

"Emma.. Sophia.. C'mon." Mary Margaret called after us.

"We need to go take care of this." David told us.

"We're not done." Emma threatened him.

"Oh, I know. You still owe me a favor." He told her before the four of us left the shop for Regina.

* * *

When we got to the prison where Regina was being held this large black thing was shining a light on her face and something was happening to her, but I just didn't know what. David grabbed a chair and ran to it.

"Hey!" David slammed the thing with the chair, which it then sent flying across the room. David attempted to attack the creature, but it only sent him flying as well. Mary Margaret tried to join him but the creature moved a desk making her take a step back. The creature then sent the desk towards David, who narrowly avoided it before it continued to do whatever it was doing to Regina before. Mary Margaret then snuck up to the creature with a can and a lighter in her hands.

"Over here!" she called out. Using the lighter and the canister, she created a flame directed at the creature. The creature then flew out the window leaving the sheriff's office. Regina made a choking noise and Emma and I rushed to help her.

"What the hell was that thing?" Emma asked.

"A Wraith! A soul sucker..." Regina told us.

"Did I-" Mary Margaret started asking.

"-Kill it? No, it's regenerating. It'll be back. It doesn't stop until it devours its prey. Me." She said showing us her hand which now had a strange mark on it.

"So, how _do_ we kill it?" Emma asked.

"There's no way. Can't kill something that's already dead." Regina told us.

"Then we have a problem." Emma said.

"No, we don't. Regina does." David said and we looked him shocked.

"Excuse me?" I asked him.

"What?" Regina asked shocked at his words.

"David?" Mary Margaret asked.

"You wanna let her die?" Emma asked him.

"Why not? If it goes away then we're safe." David said.

"That's quite the example you're setting for your daughters." Regina told him.

"No, _you_ don't get to judge us!" David shouted at her.

"Let me ask you something, where do you think that thing came from!? Gold." Regina told him.

"Sophia and I made a promise to Henry. She's not dying." Emma told the two next to us.

"If it can't be killed, what _do_ you suggest?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Send it somewhere it can't hurt anyone." Regina suggested.

* * *

We made our way to Regina's office where she got out a large hat box and placed it on the table before opening it.

"Did Henry really ask you to protect me?" she asked us.

"Yes." Emma told her. Regina smiled slightly before taking the hat out of the box.

"Oh my god." I said shocked.

"What?" she asked me.

"The hat. You had it all along." Emma said.

"What do you mean?" she asked us.

"That's Jefferson's hat!" Emma told her. Regina pause for a brief moment before looking confused.

"Who's Jefferson?" Before we could say anything David and Mary Margaret entered the room holding brooms.

"Torches, for when it comes back. I know it's old fashioned, but so am I." David told us.

"So, how does it work?" Mary Margaret asked motioning to the hat. We followed Regina who held the hat to the main hall as she explained what the hat was.

"It will open a portal to our land. All we have to do is send the Wraith in there." Regina told us.

"Oh yeah, just that." David said in a tone.

"Seriously?" I asked him.

"I don't understand, I thought our land was gone." Mary Margaret said as David started lighting the brooms.

"It is. But sending it to a place that no longer exists... well, that's banishing it to oblivion." She said as she started trying to spin the hat. The lights started flickering and we heard the Wraith's wailing around us.

"Regina..." Emma said.

"Anytime now." I said.

"I'm trying..." she told us. Shortly after the doors to the main hall blew open in front of us. Soon enough the Wraith entered the room and David readied himself to fight it with a torch on the other side of the railing. Regina continued to try and get the hat working as Mary Margaret was readying for a fight on this side of the railing.

"Regina.." Emma said again.

"I know!" she shouted at us as we watched David fight the Wraith with the torch. I watched Mary Margaret pour alcohol along the railing.

"David!" she called to him. He moved to our side of the railing and lit the banister on fire with his torch.

"Hurry!" he told Regina.

"It's not working!" Regina shouted. David continued to use the torch to fight off the Wraith. "It's not working!" Regina shouted again trying to spin the hat.

"What is the problem?" Emma asked her.

"Magic.. it's different here." Regina told us.

"Now would be the time!" David told her. Emma and I knelt next to Regina and placed our hands on her arms. Suddenly the hat started spinning, opening the portal. We stood up and I smiled in joy.

"It's working!" I shouted as the three of us stood. I turned to look at David and Mary Margaret only to see the Wraith headed straight for Regina.

"REGINA!" Emma pushed Regina to me and the Wraith was sucked into the portal disappearing from sight. Suddenly a light wrapped around Emma's ankle and she started to fall in.

"EMMA!" I shouted grabbing her hand only to be pulled in with her.

* * *

When we came around there were two women dressed in strange clothing. The Chinese woman tide our hands together and then tied us to her horse before she drug us too wherever they had been going before.

"What is this place?" Mary Margaret asked them.

"Our home." The woman told us. The horse whined as it continued to drag us into their home. When we got closer she untied us from the horse but kept our hands bound and we took a good look around at the people around us who stopped everything they were doing to stare and gasp at us.

"It's like they're refugees." Emma said.

"We're survivors." The woman told us.

"What did you survive?" I asked her. She didn't get a chance to answer me before Mary Margaret kneed the other woman in the stomach.

"Aah!" the woman called out bending over in pain.

"Emma, Sophia, run!" Mary Margaret called out and we all ran away from our captors. "Aah!" Emma and I turned to see Mary Margaret face down on the ground.

"Mary Margaret!" we both shouted turning back for her.

"Mary Margaret! What did you do?!" Emma shouted at them as we both turned her over.

"Take them to the pit." The Chinese woman ordered.

"No." They grabbed us and ripped us away from Mary Margaret before dragging us all underground with only a large hole in the ceiling for light.

"Be careful!" Emma shouted at them before they threw the three of us in the cell. "Oh! Be careful! Hey. Come on. Wake up. Hey. Can you hear me?"

"Come on Mary Margaret, wake up. Please." I begged her.

"Do you need help?" A woman asked us from the shadows.

"Who are you?" Emma asked her as I situated myself in front of Mary Margaret the best I could.

"A friend." She said stepping into the light. "My name's Cora."


	2. Truth Revealed

_Previously on The Unexpected Savior:_

* * *

 _The curse was broken._

* * *

 _"What was the purple haze that you brought?" Emma asked him._

 _"Y'know... Magic." He said with a flourish of his hand._

* * *

 _Suddenly the hat started spinning, opening the portal._

 _Emma pushed Regina to me and the Wraith was sucked into the portal disappearing from sight. Suddenly a light wrapped around Emma's ankle and she started to fall in. I grabbed her hand only to be pulled in with her._

* * *

 _Mary Margaret kneed the other woman in the stomach._

 _"Aah!" the woman called out bending over in pain._

 _"Emma, Sophia, run!" Mary Margaret called out and we all ran away from our captors. "Aah!" Emma and I turned to see Mary Margaret face down on the ground._

* * *

" _Can you hear me?" Emma asked leaning over her._

 _"Do you need help?" A woman asked us from the shadows._

 _"Who are you?" Emma asked her as I situated myself in front of Mary Margaret the best I could._

 _"My name's Cora."_

* * *

Emma and I watched as Cora tended to an unconscious Mary Margaret.

"You sure she's gonna be okay?" Emma asked her once she thought the older woman was finished.

"Don't worry. She'll be fine." Cora said standing and smiling at us.

"What is this place?" Emma asked her.

"More importantly, where are we?" I asked.

"It's a little island our captors like to think of as their haven." She told us and I gave her a curious look.

"Haven? From what?" Emma asked her.

"The world's dangerous. What's left of it, anyway." She told us.

"Well, they can't keep us down here. We didn't do anything wrong." Emma told her as I watched her.

"Neither did I."

"Then why are you here?" Emma asked her.

"I'm here because of something my daughter did. The curse that ravaged this land? She cast it." She told us and my eyes widened.

"You're Regina's mother?" I asked her shocked.

"Yes. But you've nothing to fear from me. The apple fell very far from the tree. You're from over there, aren't you? How'd you get back?" she asked us.

"Emma, Sophia. No..." Mary Margaret said standing in front of us.

"Oh, Snow, you're awake. I'm so relieved." Cora said. The way she said it sounded sincere, but something about her threw me off especially after Mary Margaret stopped us from talking.

"As bad as you think Regina is, this woman is worse." Mary Margaret told us.

"Oh, Snow. Sweet Snow, please believe me. Whatever she told you isn't true. I just want to help you." Cora told her.

"Let's hear her out." Emma told her.

"Emma, I think we should listen to Mary Margaret on this one." I told her.

"Okay. Right now, we're at the bottom of a hole with no other options. And Henry is back in Storybrooke with Regina." Emma told us.

"Who's Henry?" Cora asked her.

"My son. I kind of share him with Regina. It's complicated." Emma told her and I rolled my eyes at my twin.

"Don't talk to her!" Mary Margaret ordered.

"Enough!" a man said above us at the hole above our heads. "Our leader requests an audience." He lowered a rope and I sighed.

"I always hated the rope in gym." I sighed before following my sister up. He took us away from the hole and we followed him through the camp.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Prince Charming asked his wife, Snow White, as she leaned against the doorway to a balcony letting one of her birds fly off her finger.

"Nothing." Snow told her husband as she walked to the lone crib and fixed the tie on it.

"You're thinking about what the Queen said again, aren't you?" he asked her remembering their wedding day as well as she. "Snow, please... I can't keep having this conversation, you have to let it go. We're about to have a baby!" he told her placing his hands on her extended abdomen.

"I haven't had a restful night since our wedding." She told him.

"That's what she wants, to get in your head! But they're only words. She can't hurt us." He tried assuring her.

"She poisoned an apple because she thought I was prettier than her. You have no idea of what she's capable." She told him.

"What can I do to ease your mind?" He asked her.

"Let me talk... to him." She told him with hope.

"Him. You don't mean—" he said to her.

"I do." She told him.

"No. No, no. It's too dangerous." He told her.

"He sees the future." She reminded him.

"There's a reason he's locked up." He told her remembering their close friends Cinderella and Thomas.

"Can you promise me that our child will be safe? Can you _guarantee_ it? Because he can." She told him.

"All right. For our child." He said giving into her request.

* * *

"Why can't you just listen to me?" Mary Margaret asked Emma.

"Why couldn't you have trusted me? I was just trying to find a way to get us home. I could've handled her."

"Cora? Don't be so sure. I've lived here, Emma. I know this world and its dangers." Mary Margaret told her.

"Wait here." The man told us before leaving.

"Is that why you came through the portal? Because you thought we were helpless here?" Emma asked her offended.

"No. I came through to be with you." She told us before we turned to see a large black man walking to us. "Lancelot?"

"Snow?" he asked her shocked.

"Oh! Oh!" they both hugged each other before separating.

"If I had known that you were the prisoners Mulan had brought back, I never would've locked you away. Please, forgive me." He asked of her.

"Of course." She told him smiling.

"Lancelot? Really?" Emma asked her.

"Like King Arthur and Camelot and stuff?" I asked and Mary Margaret nodded.

"He's an old friend. We can trust him. This is Emma and Sophia." Mary Margaret introduced.

* * *

A guard was leading Prince Charming and Snow White to _his_ cage.

"When we reach the cell, stay _out_ of the light, and whatever you do, do _not_ let him know your name. If he knows your name, he will have power over you." He told them, not that they needed to be reminded about this particular person. "Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin! I have a question for you."

"No, you don't." Rumpelstiltskin said climbing down the bars like a monkey. " _They_ do. Snow White—and Prince "Charming"!" they looked up in shock at their names being spoken as he cackled insanely. "You insult me. Step into the light, and take off those ridiculous robes." They did as he told them to do. "Ah, ha-ha ha... that's much better."

"We've come to ask you about the—" Prince Charming started saying but Rumpelstiltskin didn't let him.

"Yes, yes, I know why you're here! You want to know about the Queen's threat." He said already knowing their request.

"Tell us what you know." Snow demanded.

"Ohh! Tense, aren't we? Fear not: for I can ease your mind! But. It's gonna cost you something in return." He said striking up the deal.

"No." Prince Charming told him before turning to his wife. "This is a waste of time."

"What do you want?" Snow asked him.

"Oh... the name of your unborn child?" Rumpelstiltskin asked her. If that was what he wanted, then he had to know something that would affect them all.

"Absolutely not!" Prince Charming shouted at him.

"Deal! What do you know?" Snow asked.

"Ah. The Queen has created a powerful curse. And it's coming. Soon you'll all be in a prison, just like me, only worse! Your prison- _all_ of our prisons—will be _time_. And time will stop. And we will be trapped, someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity, while the Queen celebrates, _victorious at last!_ ...No more happy endings." He told her.

"What can we do?" she asked him.

" _We_ can't do anything!" he told her.

"Who can?" she asked.

"That little thing. Growing inside your belly." Rumpelstiltskin told her reaching through the bars to her abdomen. When he touched her he saw the whole truth to which they were blind and smirked before Prince Charming slapped his hand with his sword.

"Next time, I _cut_ it off." He warned the imp.

"Tk, tk, tk, tk, tk. The infant is our only hope." He told the father-to-be before turning to the princess. "Get the child to safety. Get the child to safety and on its—" he closed his eyes in concentration. "—twenty- _eighth_ birthday, the child will return. The child will find you—and the final battle will begin!" he told them cackling once more.

"Heard enough. We're leaving." Prince Charming said taking Snow's hand the pulling her with him away from the trickster. Rumpelstiltskin whooped and cackled until he realized he never received his end of the deal. Information for a name.

"Hey! No! We made a deal! I want her name! We had a deal—I. Need. Her. Name! _I want her name!"_ he shouted at the two of them.

"Her? It's a boy." Prince Charming insisted.

"Missy, missy—you know I'm right. Tell me. What's her name?" Rumpelstiltskin asked Snow beckoning her with his voice.

"Emma." She revealed to him. "Her name is Emma."

"Emma." He said with a grin after them. Once he knew her name he could see her and her twin clearly.

* * *

In the Safe Haven, Emma, Mary Margaret and I sat down to a small feast it looked like with Lancelot.

"What the hell is that?" Emma asked referring to a particular meat that was placed on the table.

"That is Chimera. An acquired taste, but all our hunting party could bring back. One part lion, one part serpent, one part goat." Lancelot explained to her.

"Like turducken?" Emma asked him.

"Probably tastes like chicken." I told her trying to be helpful.

"I don't understand. We were told this land didn't even exist anymore. How did you all escape the curse?" Mary Margaret asked him.

"It is a mystery. The curse struck, and when the smoke cleared, most of us had been torn from this land. But some of us here, in this particular region, were left behind. We don't know how and we don't know why. Finding this safe haven wasn't easy. It took some spilt blood. But, worry not, you're safe here." Lancelot explained.

"We can't stay. My husband's back there. Emma's son, my grandson. We have to get back to them. Can you help us find a portal?" Mary Margaret asked him.

"No, leaving is unwise. The Enchanted Forest is not as you remember it. The Ogres have returned." Lancelot told us.

"Ogres? Like, as in "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum"?" Emma asked.

"I'm getting a picture of beanstalks." I joked.

"Those would be giants." Mary Margaret told us.

"Ogres are far worse. That's why we live here, on this island, where it's safe. Please, Snow, stay here. There are no more portals left." Lancelot told her.

"I might know of one." Mary Margaret told us and we looked at her surprised.

"You do?" Emma and I asked.

"Where?" Lancelot asked her.

"Cora's near. I don't feel comfortable voicing my plans. She's powerful." Mary Margaret warned him.

"Not anymore. The curse stripped her of her powers. But given her reputation, we've kept her locked up as a precaution." Lancelot told her.

"Nevertheless, I'm not taking chances. Just trust me, I may have a way. Let us go." Mary Margaret begged him.

"I'll allow it. But on one condition. Take my bravest warrior with you. Allow Mulan to defend you." Lancelot told us.

"We can defend ourselves." Emma told him.

"Deal. Thank you, Lancelot. For always looking out for me." Mary Margaret said with a smile on her face.

* * *

" **I** say we fight!" Prince Charming said at the meeting he'd called.

"Fighting is a bad idea. Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything." Jiminy Cricket told the prince.

"And how many wars has a clear conscience won?" Prince Charming asked him. "We _need_ to take the Queen out before she can inflict her curse."

"Can we even trust Rumpelstiltskin?" Doc asked him.

"I've sent my men into the forest. The animals are abuzz with the Queen's plan. This is going to happen unless we _do_ something." Prince Charming told them.

"There's no point. The future is written." Snow told them not glancing their way.

"No. I refuse to believe that. Good can't just lose!" Prince Charming told her trying to give her hope.

"Maybe it can." She told him.

"No. Not as long as we have each other. If you believe him about the curse then you must believe him about our child. She _will_ be the savior." He told her. The doors slammed open and the Blue Fairy entered with some soldiers behind her pulling in a large tree trunk. "What the hell is this?"

"Our only hope of saving that child." She told him.

"A tree? Our fate rests on a tree? Let's get back to the fighting thing." Grumpy told the prince.

"The tree is enchanted. If fashioned into a vessel it can ward off any curse. Geppetto, can you build such a thing?" she asked the carpenter.

"Me and my boy. We can do it." Geppetto told her ruffling Pinocchio's hair.

"This will work. We all must have faith." She told them and the parent-to-be finally shared a hopeful look. "There is, however, a catch. The enchantment is indeed powerful, but all power has its limits. And this tree can protect only one." Snow and her Prince shared a look of concern knowing what this meant.

* * *

Mulan dropped a chest full of weapons in front of us as we prepared to leave.

"Choose wisely. We must be vigilant if we hope to survive the journey." Mulan told us and we started going through them. I grabbed a sword and a couple daggers sticking them in my knee-high boots before grabbing a bow and arrows. Here's hoping I can do something with this.

"Where's my gun? I want it back." Emma told Mulan as she placed a dagger in her boot.

"Is it magic?" Mulan asked her looking at the object confused as she handed it back to Emma.

"Depends on who's pulling the trigger." Emma told her putting it in the holster.

"Follow my lead, step where I step, do exactly as I say, and we might survive." Mulan warned us.

"Thanks for the pep talk, but I think we're okay. I just killed a dragon last week." Emma told her.

"Have you ever seen an ogre?" Mulan asked her stepping closer to her.

"Pretty sure I've dated a few." Emma told her.

"Legend has it that when they kill you, the last thing you see is yourself dying in the reflection in their eyes. Let's walk. It'll be dark soon." Mulan told us before walking off with us following slowly.

"Don't let her rattle you. I won't let anything happen to us. Stick to the plan." Mary Margaret told us.

"What is the plan? You haven't told us anything. What's going on?" Emma asked her.

"The wardrobe." She told us and we looked at her in shock.

"Wardrobe? The wardrobe? Like, the wardrobe that sent little baby us to Maine?" Emma asked her and something flashed on Mary Margaret's face before she nodded her confirmation. "You think it could get us back to Storybrooke?" Emma asked her.

"I don't know. First we have to see if it survived the curse, then we'll worry about making it work." Mary Margaret told us.

"Where would it be?" I asked her confused.

"My place. You wanna see where you're from? That's right. We're going home." Mary Margaret told us and we shared a look before continuing after her.

* * *

"I don't wanna do this." Snow told her husband as she walked to him.

"It has to be you." He told her leaning on the baby bed.

"I'm not leaving you." Snow told him crossing the nursery floor to him.

"It's the only way. You'll go in there, and you'll be safe from the curse." He reminded her.

"He said it would be on her twenty-eighth birthday." She reminded him.

"What's twenty-eight years when you have eternal love? I have faith. You will save me, as I did you." They kissed each other passionately until Snow broke away from him with a look of pain on her face. "What is it?"

"The baby. She's coming!" she told him fearfully.

* * *

We walked most of the day until we found a large empty clearing and I thought we'd continue walking into the forest when Mulan stopped us.

"This will do. We'll make camp here for the night. We just need to find water, collect some firewood." She told us.

"Uh, if we're hiding from ogres, shouldn't we maybe, I don't know, not start a fire?" Emma asked her.

"Ogres are blind. They hunt by sound alone." Mary Margaret told her.

"Right. Because that's something everyone would know about ogres." Emma said.

"Look... I know you're out of your element..." Mary Margaret told her.

"I'm fine." Emma insisted, but I knew that voice.

"I know, but maybe you should just stay here while we get wood and water, guard the campsite." Mary Margaret told us.

"You mean the big, empty clearing?" Emma asked her.

"It's the safest place. We'll be right back." Mary Margaret told her before she and Mulan left us alone.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"I'm fine." She repeated and I gave her a look.

"Come on Emma. I know you a lot better than that." I reminded her.

"I knew this was a real place and that they were my parents before we came here when Henry was dying." She told me. "I just…. I can't get the fact that they left us to go through a wardrobe alone. They should have come with us."

"From what I understand, they couldn't." I told her. "Besides, we turned out alright."

"But how many bumps along the way could we have avoided with them instead of without?" she asked me.

"Do you remember what I told you when you and I found each other after you had Henry and I came back from my duties?" I asked her.

"Everything happens for a reason." She said.

"Exactly." I told her. "We may not know the reasons why, but there must have been one. Maybe we came here to find the reason."

"I doubt it." She told me before storming off to the woods.

* * *

"Ahhh!" Snow screamed out as her labor pains worsened. "I can't have this baby now!"

"Doc. Do something." Prince Charming ordered the dwarf before turning to Snow. "It's gonna be okay. The wardrobe's almost finished, just—just hold on."

"Nooooo! Ahhh!"

"It's ready." Geppetto told the couple as he entered the room.

"It's ready." The prince said softly as he started to pick up his wife.

"It's too late. We can't move her." Doc told him before she screamed out again.

"Push. Push." The Prince told her and she did, screaming. Her screaming was over-shouted by the cry of a newborn baby. Doc took the baby and cleaned her up before wrapping her in the blanket Granny had made for her. Snow continued screaming and the Prince and Doc shared a confused look. Doc felt her abdomen and looked at the confused couple.

"Another baby." He told them. Snow pushed and pushed with her husband's support until the second baby was born screaming just as loudly as her sister. Doc cleaned up the second child before wrapping her in a comfortable blanket and handing both twins to the new parents. Both parents smiled down at the beautiful twin girls in their arms, holding them close. The prince kissed his wife's forehead and held her just as close as he did their un-named daughter.

"The wardrobe." Snow said groggily as she just realized something. "It only takes one." She and her prince shared a look until a blast and a whinny outside the door caused them to look that way.

"Then our plan has failed. At least we're together." Prince Charming told her looking down at his family.

"No. You have to take her. Take the baby to the wardrobe." Snow told him.

"Are you out of your mind?" he asked her shocked.

"No. It's the only way, you have to send her through." Snow told him.

"No no n-n-n-n-no. You don't know what you're saying." He told her trying to reason with her.

"No, I _do_." She insisted. "We _have_ to believe that she'll come back for us. We have to give her her best chance."

"Which one do we send through?" he asked her with a mourning look. After the curse hit them they'd all be torn apart.

"Take Emma." Snow told him and they switched daughters before she kissed Emma's forehead. "Goodbye, Emma." The prince took the baby and his sword and gave his wife one last look before barreling towards the nursery they'd built for Emma. Snow cried for her lost daughter as she held the twin in her arms. After a moment she stood and grabbed another sword they'd kept close by and made her way down to the cell for Rumpelstiltskin. "Rumpelstiltskin." She called her and he cackled at her weakened state.

"Snow White." He greeted.

"Use your magic. Take my daughter to this other world we're going to." She demanded of him.

"I don't have that power or I wouldn't be here now." He told her and she held the sword up to him.

"Then find that power and use it." He smirked at her and she caught on to what he wanted. "Name your price."

"Her name." he told her and she looked down at her daughter. She hadn't thought about her daughter's name, but only one seemed to fit now.

"Sophia." He smirked at her before slipping his hand through the bars and touching a necklace around Snow's neck. The necklace was a simple locket with a fire opal stone that shone blue and red depending on how the light hit it. The locket was going to hold a small portrait of her husband and daughter inside, but now it would never have the chance to.

"Place this around her neck and she and her sister will be reunited in time." He told her. She took the necklace from her neck and stared at him for a moment before deciding if she could trust her. She moved away from his cell back to her castle above and snuck into a room away from the sights of the men trying to take her children from her. Snow placed Sophia on the ground gently before kissing her forehead and placing the necklace on her.

"I love you." She whispered to the small bundle before a purple dust surrounded her and she disappeared once more. Snow bawled her eyes out before she made her way to the nursery and her husband.

* * *

I made my way through the woods with my bow drawn scouting around the clearing for something that might have attacked us. When I found nothing I made my way back to camp to see Mary Margaret on top of one of the women who'd taken us to the Safe Haven but hadn't started traveling with us to the kingdom.

"Don't talk to her like that." Mulan told Mary Margaret pulling her off the young girl.

"What's going on?" I asked them.

"She tried to kill me." Mary Margaret told both Mulan and myself.

"I will deal with her." Mulan told her. We all jumped and looked to Emma in shock as she held the smoking gun at us.

"Emma, what are you doing?" Mary Margaret asked her in shock.

"Protecting you. Drop the weapon!" Emma ordered.

"Do you have any idea what you've just done?" Mary Margaret asked her before we heard a roar causing everyone to look behind Emma.

"Ogres?" Emma asked.

"RUUUNNN!" Mary Margaret called to us and we all quickly followed her into the forest.

"Aurora. This way. Come on!" Mulan told her friend before following us.

"Split up!" Mary Margaret ordered and Emma and I followed her as Mulan and Aurora went another way. "Over there." She said and we followed her to another part of the forest. I turned to check on Emma only to find her missing.

"Emma!" I called for her and went back to see an Ogre approaching her. She held up her gun but it snatched it out of her hand.

"Seriously?" she asked it before it crushed the gun. I nocked an arrow and prayed to whoever was listening it would hit the Ogre before letting it fly. It hit the Ogre and I started to cheer all those archery lessons before I noticed it didn't seem to do anything to it.

"You gotta be kidding me." I said before shooting another one. It started to growl in my direction when we heard a whistling. We looked to see Mary Margaret standing behind it.

"Back away from my daughters!" she nocked an arrow and waited as he started for her before shooting it in the eye, killing it.

"You shoot it and it dies. I shoot it and it doesn't." I said walking up to Mary Margaret with Emma.

"You have to shoot them in the eye." She told me and I nodded my understanding.

"When was the last time you shot an arrow?" Emma asked her.

"28 years ago. Guess it's like riding a bike." Mary Margaret said looking down at the arrow she pulled from the Ogre's eye.

"Yeah, but how did you know you could hit that?" Emma asked her.

"I didn't. Next time, listen to me. That kind of thing isn't gonna work here." Mary Margaret told her motioning to the gun.

"Yeah." Emma agreed.

"We should get going." Mary Margaret walked off with us following behind slowly. We continued walking though most of the night in silence with Mulan up front with a torch.

"We're getting close." Mary Margaret told us.

"Aurora, you've gotta keep up." Mulan called to the princess as she struggled behind us.

"Sorry, but I'm not exactly dressed for the woods. It's cold out here." She complained.

"Then maybe you should've listened to me and stayed back." Mulan told her.

"Here." Emma said offering Aurora her jacket.

"But I tried to kill your friend." Aurora reminded her.

"Actually, she's my mom and I have a feeling she can take care of herself. And I get it. You're not the only one who's been screwing up lately." Emma said walking away.

"What kind of corset is this?" Aurora asked her.

"It's not a corset." I told her. "Let me help you." I helped her place her arms in the jacket and smiled at her.

"Up here!" Mulan called to us.

"Is that it?" Emma asked her.

"Yeah. That's our home." We looked onto the destroyed castle. We made our way safely inside and followed Mary Margaret to one of the room.

* * *

"Oh, my God. I recognize this from Henry's book." Emma said looking around at the room. A single crib was knocked over and toys were thrown all over the place.

"Come. We'll stand watch at the gate." Mulan said before she and Aurora left.

"I never thought I'd see this place again." Mary Margaret said picking up a teddy bear. "This room. It was your nursery." She said looking at the two of us.

"We lived here?" Emma asked shocked before looking around. Something was throwing me off, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

"You never even got to spend a night." She told us. "This is the life I wanted you to have. I was going to teach you how to walk in here, how to talk, how to dress for your first ball. You never got to do any of it. We never got to be a family."

"We have a family..." Emma reminded her. "In Storybrooke and right now they need us to get back there. So... how do we get this to work?" we opened the doors to the wardrobe and looked inside of it. "Where's the "on" switch?"

"It's more complicated than that. We'll have to get it back to the island. Hopefully, someone there has access to enough magic to make it work again." Mary Margaret told us.

"How are we gonna carry this thing all the way back to the island?" I asked her.

"With the help of an old friend." We turned to see Lancelot walking towards us with a smile on his face.

"Lancelot. What are you doing here?" Mary Margaret asked him.

"We heard about the ogre attack, and I had to make sure you were alright." He told her.

"Oh. Where are Mulan and Aurora?" Mary Margaret asked him.

"I sent them to find food. Tonight we'll make camp, and in the morning, we'll head back. So... this is it... the portal you were after." Lancelot said looking it over.

"The same one Emma went through. It's how she escaped the curse." Mary Margaret told him and I looked at her after her words. Just Emma?

"Remarkable." He said admiring it.

"Geppetto carved it from an enchanted tree, but... there's no magic left." Mary Margaret told him.

"A portal this powerful... there must be another way to recharge it." He said.

"Why are you so interested in the wardrobe?" she asked him.

"Well, I just want you to get home to your husband and son. Henry. They must miss you." He told her smiling at his old friend. She smiled before drawing her sword on him and pushing us behind her.

"Stay away from him, Emma, Sophia. He is not who he says he is." She told us.

"What are you talking about? Who the hell is he?" Emma asked her confused.

"There is only one person you told Henry's name." Mary Margaret reminded her.

"Cora." We said together and I gasped lightly when a purple smoke covered him and he changed into Cora.

"Clever girl." Cora told her smiling.

"Where's Lancelot?" Mary Margaret asked.

"He's dead. I killed him a long time ago." Cora told her.

"And you've been posing as him ever since." Mary Margaret worked out.

"Well, they'd never listen to me. And besides, every kingdom needs a hero, don't you think?" Cora asked her. Mary Margaret tried to attack her but Cora pushed her against the wall with magic.

"Aah! Oh!"

"Thank you, Snow. I've been looking for a way over for so long." I fired an arrow at her, but she just brushed it away before pushing me back against the wall. Emma tried her hand at attacking Cora but again Cora used magic to stall her. "I never thought the person to help me find it... would be you."

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Mary Margaret asked her.

"I want to see my daughter. It's been too long. And you know, I would love to meet my grandson Henry." She told her.

"No, you won't!" we all turned to see Emma start a fire using gunpowder, torching the wardrobe.

"NO!" Cora created a fireball from the fire in the wardrobe and threw it at Emma.

"Emma!" I called to her just as Mulan dived in front of her.

"Mulan!" Aurora called out.

"We're not done." Cora said before disappearing.

"Oh!" I stood up and helped Emma up also.

"You okay?" Emma asked Mary Margaret.

"You saved me." Mary Margaret said with a smile.

"Our family seems to have a habit of doing that." I said.

"Yeah well... where is she?" Emma asked.

"Gone." Mary Margaret told her.

"So's our ride home." Emma said and we all looked to the torched wardrobe.

"Lancelot was one of the most noble knights I ever knew." Mary Margaret said.

"How could I be so blind? How could I not see that it was Cora?" Mulan asked.

"Well, to be fair, the whole shape-shifting thing threw us, too." Emma reminded her.

"What are we going to tell the people on the island?" Mulan asked.

"The truth... that Lancelot was cut down by a terrible villain. He died an honorable death." Mary Margaret told her.

"Cora's still out there. We need to find her. We need to defend what's left of the kingdom." Mulan said.

"Who's going to lead us? You?" Aurora asked her.

"No." Mulan answered. "Her." She told her turning to Mary Margaret.

"I'm honored, but Emma, Sophia and I still have to find a way back to Storybrooke." Mary Margaret told her.

"We'll help you. We'll find a way, won't we?" Mulan asked Aurora.

"Yes. Perhaps it'll help me channel my anger." Aurora said using Mary Margaret's words from the forest.

"Come." Mulan commanded and Aurora followed her out of the destroyed nursery.

"I'm, uh... sorry I torched our ride home. I couldn't let her get to Henry. I just..." Emma tried explaining to us.

"You had to put Henry first." Mary Margaret told her understanding.

"I was angry for so long..." Emma started telling her, finally getting to the root of her anger and discomfort. "Wondering how you could choose to let us grow up without you. But then just seeing all this... You gave up everything for us and you're still doing that. Sorry. I'm not good at this. I... I guess I just... I'm not... I'm not used to someone putting me first."

"Oh." Mary Margaret said before hugging Emma. "Well, get used to it." She told her. Emma went to follow Mulan and Aurora as I stared at the broken toys and turned over crib. "Sophia?"

"You didn't know, did you?" I asked her finally putting the pieces.

"No." she answered once she understood what I was saying. "We didn't know I was pregnant with twins until the day you were born."

"Then how did you send me to this land?" I asked her.

"Rumpelstiltskin." She told me. "That locket had magic in it and it sent you to Emma. You father gave that to me." I held the locket into my hand and stared at it. Inside was a picture of the one I held deep in my heart. "We may not have expected you like we did Emma, but we still love you. I sent you to this land for the same reason I did Emma."

"I understand that, Mary Margaret." I told her placing the locket on my chest once more. "More than you know." I turned and left her alone to follow Emma.

* * *

It took us a couple of days to make our way back to the Safe Haven with no incident, but we managed it.

"I don't know if I can do this. I'm not a very good liar." Aurora told us.

"Well, it's not really a lie, Aurora. Lancelot _did_ die an honorable death and Cora _did_ escape. All true. Just... leave the particulars to us. There's no reason to cause unnecessary panic amongst your people." Mary Margaret told her.

"I'm not so sure it's unnecessary..." Aurora replied.

"Wait." Mulan told us and we all stopped. "The tower. We always have sentries guarding the entrance." She drew her sword and we all prepared for an attack. "Stay close." When we made our way to camp we were shocked to see the number of dead bodies on the ground.

"Oh my God." Emma said shocked.

"This can't be. Our land, we were protected here, hidden. How did the ogres find us?" Mulan asked devastated and confused.

"Ogres didn't do this." Mary Margaret said looking around.

"What?" Mulan asked her confused.

"Cora did. Their hearts... they were ripped out. This was her magic... twisted and evil. We have to stop her." Mary Margaret said.

"Too late. She killed them. She killed them all." Mulan pointed out angrily.

"We have to stop her before she hurts anyone else." Mary Margaret corrected her words to the saddened warrior.

"Hey. Hey. Look." Emma called to us and we made our way to her to see a hand moving.

"There's someone under there. He's alive." Aurora called out.

"Please." A male voice called out.

"It's okay." Aurora called to him.

"Please help me." He called out once more. We pulled all the dead off him to reveal a very handsome face.

"Don't worry." I told him. "We gotcha."

"It's okay. You're safe now we won't hurt you." Mary Margaret assured him.

"Thank you. Thank you" he said, fear all over his face. We moved him to a bench and I used my water to clean the blood off of him.

"You're lucky." I told him.

"You call this lucky?" he asked me.

"You're alive, right?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"That I am." He agreed as Mulan and Emma made their way to us.

"Here you go." Emma told him handing him a cup and pouring water in it. Mulan gave Aurora a cup already full before Emma handed me one.

"Thanks Em." I said smiling at her.

"I can't thank you enough for your kindness. Fortune it seems has seen fit to show me favor." He said smiling at me.

"An island full of corpses... you're the only one to escape. How exactly did that happen?" Emma asked him.

"She attacked at night... slaughtered everyone in one fell swoop. When she started ripping out peoples' hearts, I hid under the bodies of those who had already been killed. Pretended to be dead myself. Must be the ruse worked." He told us and I looked to Emma to see if he was lying.

"So much for fortune favoring the brave." She said and we shared a look. _The_ look.

"It was all I could do to survive." He reminded her.

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. I am pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me." She said, giving him time to tell the truth to her.

"I am telling you the truth." He told her trying to use some sort of boyish charm.

"We should leave here, in case Cora decides to come back." Mulan told us.

"We should start searching for a new portal back to Storybrooke. I only got about five minutes with my husband, not to mention my grandson." Mary Margaret reminded us as Emma and I shared a silent conversation.

"You have a grandson?" the man asked her.

"Long story." She told him.

"Well, I know this land well, I can guide you..." he started telling us but I quickly pulled out one of the daggers in my boots and held it over his throat.

"You're not gonna guide us anywhere until you tell us the truth." I told him. I forced him to stand and we tied him to a large tree.

"Very clever lass." He told me as they made sure the ropes were tight enough. I put the dagger away and stood next to my sister as we started questioning him.

"Tell us who you are." I ordered him.

"I already told you. I'm just a blacksmith." He told us.

"You so sure about that?" I asked him with a smirk. Emma whistled and we heard the sound of an ogre coming our way.

"You don't want to talk to us?" Emma asked him. "Maybe you'll talk to the ogres while they rip you limb from limb. Come on." We all started to leave when he called us back.

"What? You... you can't just leave me here like this!" he called to us.

"What if he's telling the truth?" Aurora asked us.

"He's _not."_ Emma assured her.

"Trust us, Aurora. My sister is never wrong." I told her.

"Good for you! You bested me. I can count the amount of people who've done that on one hand." He told us.

"Cute." I said sarcastically.

"Who are you?" Emma asked.

"Killian Jones, but most people have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker... Hook." He told us and Emma and I shared a look. Hook was, after all, a well-known character from a children's story.

"Hook." Mary Margaret breathed out.

"Check my satchel." He told us. I watched as Mary Margaret did as he said.

" **A** s in Captain Hook?" Emma asked him.

"Ah, so you've heard of me." He said. Mary Margaret pulled out a silver hook from his satchel and gasped.

"You better hurry up. They're getting closer. So unless you wanna be dinner, you better start talking." Emma warned him.

"Cora wanted me to gain your trust so I could learn everything there is to know about your Storybrooke. She didn't want any surprises when she finally got over there." He told us.

"She can't get there. We destroyed the wardrobe." Mary Margaret told him.

"Ah, but the enchantment remains. Cora gathered the ashes. She's gonna use them to open up a portal." He told us before the Ogre shouted signaling it was coming closer to us. "Now if you'll kindly cut me loose." I looked to Emma and she nodded slightly to me. I went to do as he requested, but Mulan stopped me.

"No. We should leave him here to die to pay for all the lives that he took." Mulan told us.

"That was Cora, not me." Hook told us. I gave Emma a small look and she sighed.

"Let's go." She told us.

"Wait. Wait!" he called to us as we turned to leave him. "You need me alive."

"Why's that?" I asked him.

"Because we both want the same thing, to get back to your land." He told us.

"You would say anything to save yourself. Why are we supposed to believe you now?" Emma asked him.

"I arranged for transport with Cora, but, seeing how resourceful _you_ are, I'll offer you the same deal, I'll help _you_ if you promise to take me along." He said.

"How are _you_ going to help us get home?" Mary Margaret asked him.

"The ashes will open a portal, but to find your land, she needs more. There's an enchanted compass. Cora seeks it. I'll help you obtain it before she does." He bargained.

"So Cora won't make it to Storybrooke, and we'll be one step closer to getting home." Emma said putting the pieces together.

"Sounds too good to be true." Mary Margaret told us.

"There's only one way to find out." He said and I mentally agreed as the Ogre sounded closer.

"Why do you want to go to Storybrooke?" I asked him.

"To exact revenge on the man who took my hand, Rumpelstiltskin." He told us and I looked to Emma. She nodded and I released him from the tree and bound his hand together and we were on our way.


End file.
